Prolific

Begin as you intend to go on, as they say, so here I am. It’s 12:44am and I’m at the keyboard. Neil Young’s soundtrack to Jarmusch’s ‘Dead Man’ is playing. I should be in bed, but I should be here. Begin as you intend to go on. Two words I want for the dawn of a new year: Prolific and prayerful.

My dichotomy is plain, clear and beautiful. I want to be prolific in word and song. And I want to be steeped in silence and prayer. I want to strip away the noise, distraction and folly, as much as possible. Thus, of course, less fixation on novelty, tone and sound, with a stronger appreciation of structure, song, narrative, posterity.

Deliberate, prayerful, present and acutely aware of Christ’s grace and presence in every moment, in everything. Silence and song. I want to nurture the projects that give life and light. I want to be dogged, resolute and in a sense, unrealistic and uncompromising. I should be in bed, but I should be here. Pieces are in their places. Freedom up and running on my devices. A tab group for managing writing tasks and substack administration. A stereo line isolator running from my pedalboard to my audio interface. Fifty or so posts on Wristwatches and Radios waiting for their new images on their new home.

I should be in bed, but I should be here. Thanks be to God, for everything. For the first child to stir in the morning. For the first cry of the day, still yet to come.